After I hiked the waterfalls I drove to the Dundee Hills to try some wine. The Dundee is home to one of my favorite Oregon wines Erath. They have a lovely tasting room. Erath is a perfectly pleasant Pinot Noir. However, it is a blend of many winerys so it lakes a certain presence of terroir.
Next to Erath is Bella Vida.
This is Steve and Allison the owners.
The have a very interesting style of Wine. They have 3 different winemakers create wine from the grapes grown in their vineyard. One will let more mineral through, one is riper, the other is more acidic. The amazing part is that they all come from the same acreage. The only differences are how much pruning and when the grapes are harvested. Steve and Allison are very cool people. Instead of growing grapes to sell to another winery. They only make 1000 cases a year, so it is unlikely that you will find their wine anywhere except their vineyard.
I was speachless at the beauty. There is a gorgeous view of Mt Hood, and rolling hills of vineyards. The earth is red and ruddy.
1/2 mile down the Hill is the Maresh Vineyard. It is set in a red barn. They have the oldest Chardonnay vineyard. Maresh is an old guy that start his vineyard way back in the 70s. He is in his 80s now and still rides around on his tractor. The wine was VERY high with Tannins. I got a headache after this wine.
Some views:
